diff --git a/lale/datasets/util.py b/lale/datasets/util.py
index 304c2f40f..dd6b570d8 100644
--- a/lale/datasets/util.py
+++ b/lale/datasets/util.py
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import sys
-from typing import Any, Tuple, overload
+from typing import Any, Literal, Tuple, overload
 
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
@@ -20,11 +19,6 @@
 
 from lale.datasets.data_schemas import add_table_name, get_table_name
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # raises a mypy error for <3.8
-else:
-    from typing_extensions import Literal
-
 try:
     from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
 
diff --git a/lale/expressions.py b/lale/expressions.py
index 15925bdf0..e5768ee9b 100644
--- a/lale/expressions.py
+++ b/lale/expressions.py
@@ -17,10 +17,9 @@
 import typing
 from copy import deepcopy
 from io import StringIO
-from typing import Any, Dict, Optional, Union, overload
+from typing import Any, Dict, Literal, Optional, Union, overload
 
 import astunparse
-from typing_extensions import Literal
 
 AstLits = (ast.Num, ast.Str, ast.List, ast.Tuple, ast.Set, ast.Dict, ast.Constant)
 AstLit = Union[ast.Num, ast.Str, ast.List, ast.Tuple, ast.Set, ast.Dict, ast.Constant]
diff --git a/lale/helpers.py b/lale/helpers.py
index dd1ede399..6c15e1175 100644
--- a/lale/helpers.py
+++ b/lale/helpers.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 import copy
 import importlib
 import logging
-import sys
 import time
 import traceback
 from importlib import util
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@
     Dict,
     Iterable,
     List,
+    Literal,
     Mapping,
     Optional,
     Set,
@@ -46,11 +46,6 @@
 
 import lale.datasets.data_schemas
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # raises a mypy error for <3.8
-else:
-    from typing_extensions import Literal
-
 try:
     import torch
 
diff --git a/lale/lib/aif360/util.py b/lale/lib/aif360/util.py
index 91aef65db..f2d5c4645 100644
--- a/lale/lib/aif360/util.py
+++ b/lale/lib/aif360/util.py
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@
 
 import functools
 import logging
-import sys
-from typing import List, Optional, Tuple, Union, cast
+from typing import List, Literal, Optional, Tuple, Union, cast
 
 import aif360.algorithms.postprocessing
 import aif360.datasets
@@ -38,12 +37,6 @@
 from lale.operators import TrainablePipeline, TrainedOperator
 from lale.type_checking import JSON_TYPE, validate_schema_directly
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # raises a mypy error for <3.8
-else:
-    from typing_extensions import Literal
-
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/datasets.py b/lale/lib/rasl/datasets.py
index 0ba3ee913..f2967ce51 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/datasets.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/datasets.py
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from typing import Iterable, Tuple, Union, cast, overload
+from typing import Iterable, Literal, Tuple, Union, cast, overload
 
 import pandas as pd
 import sklearn.model_selection
 import sklearn.tree
-from typing_extensions import Literal, TypeAlias
+from typing_extensions import TypeAlias
 
 import lale.helpers
 from lale.datasets import pandas2spark
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/functions.py b/lale/lib/rasl/functions.py
index 6309849bc..be1ce3ef5 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/functions.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/functions.py
@@ -13,10 +13,9 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 import datetime
-from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Generic, List, Optional, TypeVar
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Generic, List, Optional, Protocol, TypeVar
 
 import numpy as np
-from typing_extensions import Protocol
 
 from lale.helpers import _is_pandas_df, _is_spark_df
 
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/metrics.py b/lale/lib/rasl/metrics.py
index b98a8c726..493a01b2b 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/metrics.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/metrics.py
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@
 
 import functools
 from abc import abstractmethod
-from typing import Dict, Iterable, Optional, Tuple, TypeVar, Union, cast
+from typing import Dict, Iterable, Optional, Protocol, Tuple, TypeVar, Union, cast
 
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
-from typing_extensions import Protocol, TypeAlias
+from typing_extensions import TypeAlias
 
 from lale.expressions import astype, count, it
 from lale.expressions import sum as lale_sum
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/monoid.py b/lale/lib/rasl/monoid.py
index b83439a91..0d931b818 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/monoid.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/monoid.py
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
-from typing import Any, Generic, Optional, TypeVar
-
-from typing_extensions import Protocol, runtime_checkable
+from typing import Any, Generic, Optional, Protocol, TypeVar, runtime_checkable
 
 _InputType_contra = TypeVar("_InputType_contra", contravariant=True)
 _OutputType_co = TypeVar("_OutputType_co", covariant=True)
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/project.py b/lale/lib/rasl/project.py
index 521a9baee..e30be0d27 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/project.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/project.py
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-from typing import Any, List, Optional
+from typing import Any, List, Optional, Protocol
 
 import numpy as np
-from typing_extensions import Protocol
 
 import lale.datasets.data_schemas
 import lale.docstrings
diff --git a/lale/lib/rasl/scores.py b/lale/lib/rasl/scores.py
index 3d40c906c..e86cd35bf 100644
--- a/lale/lib/rasl/scores.py
+++ b/lale/lib/rasl/scores.py
@@ -12,11 +12,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from typing import Any, Tuple, TypeVar
+from typing import Any, Protocol, Tuple, TypeVar
 
 import numpy as np
 from scipy import special
-from typing_extensions import Protocol
 
 from lale.expressions import count as agg_count
 from lale.expressions import it
diff --git a/lale/operator_wrapper.py b/lale/operator_wrapper.py
index 1b300a2dd..87bc95695 100644
--- a/lale/operator_wrapper.py
+++ b/lale/operator_wrapper.py
@@ -14,16 +14,10 @@
 
 import inspect
 import logging
-import sys
-from typing import List, Optional, Set
+from typing import Container, List, Optional, Set
 
 from lale.operators import Operator, clone_op, get_op_from_lale_lib
 
-if sys.version_info < (3, 9):
-    from typing import Container  # raises a mypy error for <3.8
-else:
-    from collections.abc import Container
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
diff --git a/lale/operators.py b/lale/operators.py
index cadf64e81..1caf4ffe9 100644
--- a/lale/operators.py
+++ b/lale/operators.py
@@ -153,7 +153,6 @@
 import itertools
 import logging
 import os
-import sys
 import warnings
 from abc import abstractmethod
 from types import MappingProxyType
@@ -164,6 +163,7 @@
     Generic,
     Iterable,
     List,
+    Literal,
     Mapping,
     Optional,
     Set,
@@ -230,11 +230,6 @@
 
 sklearn_version = version.parse(getattr(sklearn, "__version__"))
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # raises a mypy error for <3.8
-else:
-    from typing_extensions import Literal
-
 try:
     from sklearn.pipeline import (  # pylint:disable=ungrouped-imports
         if_delegate_has_method,
diff --git a/lale/util/VisitorMeta.py b/lale/util/VisitorMeta.py
index fed0addbb..5d28abd38 100644
--- a/lale/util/VisitorMeta.py
+++ b/lale/util/VisitorMeta.py
@@ -12,11 +12,6 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-# A shim for compatibility across 3.7.
-# pre 3.7, we need to inherit from the GenericMeta class (which inherits from ABCmeta)
-# to use Generic (which we want to do)
-# post 3.7, GenericMeta no longer exists
-import sys
 from abc import ABCMeta
 
 
@@ -53,14 +48,7 @@ def __init__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         setattr(cls, "_accept", ll["_accept"])
 
 
-if sys.version_info < (3, 7, 0):
-    from typing import GenericMeta  # type: ignore
-else:
-    global GenericMeta  # pylint:disable=global-at-module-level
-    GenericMeta = ABCMeta  # type: ignore
-
-
-class AbstractVisitorMeta(VisitorMeta, GenericMeta):
+class AbstractVisitorMeta(VisitorMeta, ABCMeta):
     """This meta class adds an _accept method that calls visitCLASSNAME on the visitor.
     It does not currently support inheritance: you need to define the visitC method for subclasses
     explicitly.
diff --git a/mypy.ini b/mypy.ini
index 0de2ac6bb..0e4df7832 100644
--- a/mypy.ini
+++ b/mypy.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [mypy]
-python_version = 3.7
+python_version = 3.8
 ignore_missing_imports = True
 
 [mypy-pandas]